[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally posted by tobster1911
VW Jetta ($17,900 starting) 2.5L 22/30mpg (manual)
22/30mpg (automatic) 150 hp 2.5L 5-cylinder


Pontiac G6 ($17,990 starting)167 hp
EPA (City/Highway) 23/34 mpg†
Engine: 2.4L 4 Cylinder ECOTEC®


Chevy Cobalt SS
MSRP* $18,790.00
Engine: 2.4L DOHC ECOTEC four-cylinder with 171 hp

I will agree that in the 80's American cars < ROW cars. But the cars being made today are very comparable to German cars. It is a perception that has been highly cultivated that US cars are junk.

Thank you for reinforcing my point perfectly. Have you cross shopped these cars? I have, while recently helping my inlaws pick out a small sedan. You don't even have to drive one, just sit in it. The VW has deep, finely grained plastics, with few obvious seams, contrasting materials, all with a quality, rich feel. The Pontiac and Chevy, though an improvement over the cars they replace, still have an air of cheapness. The materials are not as nice, the fit and finish still isn't there, it's no comparison. Call myself, and all the others on this thread an idiot all you want, but when was the last time you saw a domestic come out on the top of a car comparison in a magazine? Even in the US magazines, which are far kinder to American cars than the European ones, American cars are lucky to finish in the top half of their comparisons. Again, I don't feel this is the fault of the engineers, within a few years I myself will be an American engineer, but the fault of those pulling the strings from above. Make all the excuses you like, American car companies make an inferior product, and that is why that are consistently losing market share. Americans as a whole vote with their pocketbooks, GM on the verge of bankruptcy says it all.